Porchetta & Friends

Getting back to the porchetta dinner, here it is (or was) in all its glory. Honestly, I can still smell it. The porchetta was from our friend’s butchery course; the meat was stuffed with garlic, fennel, rosemary, and other herbs and marinated for a few weeks in their home. The porchetta was epic. The pork was tender and flavors were so well balanced, no one ingredient dominated which, for me, is perfect. Put this on a pedestal platter, add a candle, and you’ve made my birthday cake. You may be laughing (or gagging), but I’m serious.

The evening started with Corpse Reviver cocktails made with the fresh lemons from Conny’s Meyer Lemon tree. While sipping, I got a healthy whiff of something else quite wonderful cooking in the kitchen, black trumpet risotto. An astounding pairing, black trumpets & porchetta, don’t you think?

For dinner, we brought two bottles of 2003 Bordeaux from the Margaux appellation; two different winemakers to compare. However, we were quite satiated after just one, but I suspect we were just saving ourselves for the after dinner Gewürztraminer.

And, if porchetta wasn’t rich enough, Conny made Chocolate Bombes for dessert. The pastry sous chef felt raspberries would really put it over the top. Personally, I felt a ’94 Rolly Gassmann would, but to each his own.